LIONEL MESSI has been ruled out of Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League clash against RB Leipzig after picking up a hamstring injury.
The 34-year-old hasn’t even been named in Mauricio Pochettino’s 21-man-squad to face Leipzig on Wednesday due to the niggling hamstring issue along with a pain in his knee, PSG revealed.
Messi’s injury woes were first realised before his horror performance in PSG’s 2-1 win over Lille last week.
However, the ex-Barca attacker was given the all-clear to start in the game which saw L’Equipe give him a rating of three out of ten for his poor display.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner was practically invisible in the first half before Pochettino subbed him, although the PSG boss claimed he only removed Messi from action as a ‘precaution.’
The Ligue 1 giants were even trailing 1-0 when Messi was on the pitch, but when he was taken off, they found their groove and mounted a comeback, ending the game as 2-1 winners.
The Argentine’s now gone five games without scoring or setting up a goal, making it the worst start to a season he’s had in 15 years.
But in contrast, Messi’s been in fine form in Europe in this campaign, scoring three goals in as many games.
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Two of those strikes came in PSG’s 3-2 win over Leipzig when they met a few weeks ago, which included a perfect Paneka penalty effort.
Messi was also a menace against Manchester City in the top-tier European competition last month.
He broke his scoring duck in the game with a wonder-strike that was reminiscent of his form in Spain with Barca.
PSG will also be without crocked star Sergio Ramos for the Champions League game.
The ex-Real Madrid star is yet to make his debut for the club who are reportedly losing patience with the defender.
The 36-year-old is back in training and PSG hope he’ll be fit again soon, but if that’s not the case, it’s been reported that they’re considering pulling the plug on his contract despite only signing him in the summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
